The end of summer brings transition in 411 Borlaug Hall: Gary Muehlbauer has stepped down as head of the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, and we welcome our new interim head, Candice Hirsch.
After leading the department for the last six years, Gary has returned to the faculty to focus on research and teaching. Gary stepped in as interim head in 2020 and was named department head in 2024. A Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Gary is internationally recognized for his research in wheat and barley molecular genetics. His work focuses on improving wheat and barley through research on Fusarium head blight, developing and integrating genomics tools into barley breeding programs, identifying useful genetic variation in wild barley, and studying barley tillering mutants.
Candy holds a McKnight Presidential Professorship. She joined the APG faculty in 2013 and was promoted to full professor in 2023. Her research program focuses on understanding the genetic and genomic basis of complex traits in maize and other crop species.
Welcome, Candy, and we wish you well, Gary.